Amsterdam city councillors will vote later today on a motion calling on the council to do more to help international workers “integrate”.

The proposal is the third version of a plan drawn up by the local Labour and PvdA party, now entitled Make Amsterdam your home. Previous versions failed to attract sufficient support.

The revised plan calls on the council to work with companies employing foreign workers, community groups and educational organisations to develop a programme for new arrivals.

This would include options for language and city history lessons, an overview of clubs, societies and volunteer organisations that make up the “social fabric” of the city, and organised meetings between newcomers and longer-term residents.

It also calls on officials to discuss with companies how they could contribute to solving the housing shortage in the city – as technology company ASML has done by funding social housing in the Eindhoven region.

Lian Heinhuis, leader of the local PvdA party and the main driving force behind the plan, told the NRC in an interview that “nothing is expected of expats, and more than that, they get a 30% tax cut for five years”.

Companies, she told Dutch News in a statement, pay very little tax in the Netherlands. “But in return, we can also expect them to give something back,” she said. “For example, by investing in the liveability of the city and the wellbeing of both their employees and their neighbours.”

But Erik Schmit, a D66 councillor, told Dutch News that challenges relating to affordable housing and social cohesion should not be placed squarely at the feet of knowledge migrants, who represent about 7% of Amsterdam’s population.

“And I think we should be careful about scapegoating the international community in the city of Amsterdam for the developments which are happening,” he said. “That social cohesion is under pressure is not solely due to the expats.”

Research by the International Community Advisory Panel in 2022 found that discrimination is a major issue facing the international community in the Netherlands, with only one third of the 3,800 respondents saying they had not experienced any discrimination during their time here.

Participants were asked what they considered important in feeling at home. Some 70% said friendly neighbours were key, while 67% cited knowing where to go for help with problems, 61% mentioned speaking Dutch and 60% said having Dutch friends.

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